Scars on My Cap
by GamerGirlandCo
Summary: The crazy and violent life of Verity Aurora began with a chat from her mother. Then she sent away, she got on an unstable relationship with her roommate, and she eventually got locked away. Turns out that there's more to life than drugs, grief and selfishness when you nearly die.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, I'm also rewriting this story. I know ― crazy, since I'm rewriting chapters until they come out of my ears! XD So . . . yeah.**

 **Enjoy, ppl!**

Verity walked home from school in a foul temper.  
"Why does school even exist when it's so tortuous?" she asked herself as she kicked rocks off the sidewalk angrily.

"I live in Toronto! Shouldn't I be living the free life without having to deal with this so-called "education" I need to have stuffed into me? It's stupid! STUPID! Thank goodness school will be over soon!" Verity exclaimed as she threw rocks into a bird's nest. She shuddered as she recalled the less-than-excellent day she had.

The girl-plant was idly drawing in an art notebook when a Chomper turned around and saw her.

"Hey, V! Can I see your art?" he asked.

"No." Verity answered brusquely.

But the Chomper just grabbed her notebook.

"HEY! GIVE THAT BACK! I DON'T WANT YOU TO SEE THOSE DRAWINGS!" Verity screamed. Her teacher just glared at her.

"Be quiet! You don't have to yell!" he exclaimed from behind a laptop.

Verity just seized her notebook, sulking and red in the face, and walked back to her desk. The few minutes before recess time were even worse. While Verity was looking for a friend, she bumped into a Peashooter, Ethel.

"Oh. Hi Ethel. What's been going on?" Verity asked.

Ethel just shrugged, then eyed Verity's notebook with interest.

"Hey, what's in there?" he asked.

Verity froze. "Ummm . . . nothing significant . . ." she mumbled.

But Ethel just grabbed the notebook and was making off towards the huge double doors.

"YO! I never said to touch it! Come back!" Verity yelled while she ran as fast as her two roots could take her.

Ethel, meanwhile, had stopped, and opened the notebook.

"Oooh, look at this! Can't wait to show the whole class this thing!" he exclaimed as he flipped through the pages.

Verity snatched the notebook out of Ethel's leaves and glared at him. But before she could start her yelling, a teacher happened to see the whole scene. And as if to make things worse, that teacher happened to be as strict as a general (and it just so happened that he sounded like one as well).

"Both of you! This is a school, not a place in which you can paint the town red!" the teacher barked.

Verity and Ethel slowly nodded, and walked out the massive doors, red in the face.

"Never do that again, Ethel!" Verity hissed.

"Verity! Verity!"

The depressed girl-plant was stirred out of her thoughts by her mother's voice. When she looked up from the ground, she saw that she was at her front door, just a few feet from her mother.

"Ugh . . . I'd be better off living in Regent Park than in here what with school . . ." Verity hooted as she climbed up the porch steps and stomped inside.

"Anything go wrong at school, Aurora Borealis?" her mother asked.

Verity felt like banging her cap against the wall out of frustration.

"Mimar! I told you! How many times must I remind you? _I do not want to be called the northern lights!_ I bet the Hope diamond that even if I told you not to call me that until I turned blue, you still wouldn't get the DAMNED PICTURE!" she growled.

Verity's mother just sighed.

"I've noticed that you've been so angry ever since the death of ―"

" _DON'T SAY IT, FOR GOD'S SAKES_!" Verity barked through clenched teeth.

"Enough is enough of your rotten attitude, Verity!" Verity's mother commanded in a loud voice.

Verity froze, and for the first time, the Hypno-Shroom felt small in comparison to her mother, who spoke not long after.

"Verity, you have no father because he was killed in a zombie attack." Verity gasped.

"What? H-how? I thought you said he left you when I was born because I wasn't a boy..." she sputtered.

Her mother just raised a leaf to silence her daughter.

"When I heard that he got killed, I wanted to scream and go live in the woods. But I eventually realized that I should just move along with life and think about the good times. You should think about the good times as well." she whispered.

"W-well, you can't just shrug it off forever! You lost one of your freaking daughters last year, and you just say "move along the sidewalk of life"? What kind of Romanian Hypno-Shroom of a mother do you think you are?" Verity sobbed, allowing her emotions to get out of control as she threw books around the living room.

Her mother watched the scene, feeling like crying herself until she said her piece.

"Verity, I'm afraid I'll have to send you away to do some lawn defense."

Verity stopped dead in her temper tantrum at those words.

"I beg your pardon?" she squeaked.

"I said I will have to send you away to Stratford to battle the zombies." Verity's mother said calmly.

Verity wanted to scream and shout, "I don't want to leave! I can't leave home!" But she didn't, and just allowed her mother to speak her mind.

"You need some kind of intervention for that mental problem of yours. I hate putting you through what your father went through, but I care about you, Verity Aurora. I don't like how you've been having nervous breakdowns. You're an emotional wreck and I only want to fix that." she said softly.

Verity nodded slowly and sank to the floor.

"And, I have to give you this . . ." her mother muttered as she went digging through a chest until she found a leather-bound book.

"This is the diary your father wanted to give to you when you turned thirteen. Unfortunately, he never lived to carry out his wish. So I present this diary to you, sweet daughter. It will be your companion in Stratford." her mother said.

At these words, Verity started crying hysterically.

"Why must God always choose me? Why must I be the one to suffer?" she howled tearfully. Verity's mother just put a leaf on her crying daughter's cap.

"You will leave tomorrow, early in the morning, Verity. Don't be sad . . ." she murmured. Verity looked up into her mother's purple eyes.

"Mom, do I remind you of Dad?" she asked in a tiny voice.

To her immense surprise, her mother nodded.

"Before you lost your sister, you were funny and optimistic, just like him. I want you to get those missing pieces back so that you can be in one piece, Verity. Be happy once more. That is all I ask of you." she whispered. Verity nodded and went up to her room, with the leather bound diary in one leaf. When she opened the door, she ran into the room and threw herself on the bed in anger and sadness.

"Why must my life be like this?" she asked herself. "What did God do to me?"

Verity just opened the diary, grabbed a pencil, and started scribbling in it.

 _Monday, June 1_ _st_ _, 2015_

 _I was just given this cruddy diary by the crazy plant of a mother I have. My life is as miserable as it would be if I was in Hell. Why does God have to curse my life?! I deserve better! In any case, I swear to Heaven, Hell and Earth that I will NEVER WRITE IN THIS DARN DIARY AGAIN!_

The girl-plant just looked at the entry with satisfaction before she threw it inside her duffel bag, along with a whole bunch of paraphernalia. After she had finished her packing, Verity cast a look around her room and sighed.

"I will return here someday . . ." she muttered as she fell into a troubled sleep.

Verity was woken up at seven o'clock by the singing of birds.

"Ugh . . . what is there to sing about when I'm about to be carted to the gallows?" she grunted as she forced herself out of her bed. As she dragged her duffel bag down the stairs, Verity saw a picture of herself when she was a little plant.

"That was me when I was carefree. Now look at me, minus a father I hardly remember and a fifteen year old sister . . ." she sighed as she ominously descended the stairs and went out the front door, where a taxi was waiting for her.

Verity did her best not to burst into tears as she climbed into the backseat with a heart heavier than her black duffel bag. Not a single word was said as the taxi drove past the tall buildings of Downtown Core, which became shorter and shorter as time went by. By the time it was 7:40, all Verity saw small houses. In no time at all, the taxicab had screeched to a stop in front of a huge manor. Verity grabbed her duffel bag and made the long walk to the door with her roots feeling as heavy as boulders. She rapped one, two, three knocks onto the wooden door, which was answered by a human with a saucepan as a hat.

"H-hello . . . is this the lawn defense place?" Verity asked.

"Why, yes! My name is Crazy Dave, and I was expecting you!" the man exclaimed as he escorted the nervous Verity inside the house.

"You'll have fun here, pretty little Hypno-Shroom! Anyways, what's your name?" he asked.

"Verity Aurora, but please just call me Verity." Verity stammered. Crazy Dave just nodded.

"Well Verity, you'll be sharing a room with Daniel. Come upstairs, and I'll show you." he said.

Verity just lugged her duffel bag up the steep marble stairs, unsure of what to feel until a door was opened. She saw a Doom-Shroom at the door. Crazy Dave just cleared his throat.

"Verity, this is Daniel, your roommate. Verity, I recommend that you get a good sleep so that you have enough energy for night-time, because that's when your shift is." he said as he ushered the girl-plant in and disappeared down the stairs.

"Hi, Verity" Daniel whispered. Verity just waved a leaf and unpacked her items.

"So . . . do you want to do something, like play a game?" Daniel asked.

Verity froze in disgust. _Just great! Now I'm stuck with a boy-plant who likes me._ she thought in utter repulsion.

"No, thank you very much. I don't think I need to act like a plant barely out of sprouthood!" Verity snapped as she zipped up her duffel bag and sat on a comfortable chair by the window, glaring at the Doom-Shroom as if to say, _Don't even think that you'll be able to fall in love with me without heartbreak_.  
Daniel just lowered his red eyes and nodded.

"You can have the top bunk, Verity." he murmured.

As the girl-plant walked to the ladder, she cast a look at Daniel, whose eyes looked like troubled seas. Verity began to regret the angry words she uttered a few minutes ago.

"Sorry if I snapped at you, Daniel. I was just feeling scared. I mean, what if I died on the first night I was here?" she stammered.

Daniel just patted Verity's cap, entranced by her every feature.

"Join the club, Verity. I had the exact same thought as you when I first stepped into this room a year ago. Don't be scared, Verity! It will be all right. That, I can promise you!"

Verity smiled as she climbed the ladder and lay down on the bed, feeling like she made a new friend.

 **A/N Verity's "bad day" at school was based on a true story that happened to me! Big surprise, right?**


	2. Chapter 2

Verity was woken up by the dinner bell clanging.  
"Wake up, Aurora! It's dinnertime!" Daniel exclaimed.

"Ugh . . ." Verity groaned as she sat up and blinked the last bit of sleep from her eyes.

"Why now? Isn't it an hour too early?" she griped as she climbed down the ladder reluctantly. Daniel sighed as his roommate climbed down the stairs, sulking and brooding.

"Hey ― it's just your first day here, Verity. Why are you in such a bad mood?" he asked. Verity glared at Daniel.

"Life is so unfair! I lost a sister, I'm not sleeping under my own roof, and I could die tonight!" she snapped.  
Daniel put a leaf on the Hypno-Shroom's cap with a sigh.

"You have no need to worry about any zombies taking a bite out of you, Verity. Just a few minutes before you came, I was told to protect you. It's kind of like a rule in here. You must guard the plant in front of you, and never falter. You will never go meet your maker, as long as I am alive." he assured Verity, who shook off the comforting leaf with disgust.

"Nobody said I was supposed to become your girlfriend on the first night here, Daniel. Please, don't get too lovey right now, and _never_ call me Aurora unless I say you can." she said sharply. Daniel felt like he had been hit hard.

"Sheesh, I was just trying to make you feel better!" he countered as he stepped in front of Verity. "You always seem so bitter! Can you at least warm up a degree or two?" Daniel objected, looking into Verity's eyes.

Verity gasped, and lowered her eyes as she recalled her mother's words.

 _"_ _Before you lost your sister, you were funny and optimistic, just like your father. I want you to get those missing pieces back so that you can be in one piece, Verity. Be happy once more. That is all I ask of you."_  
 _I was sent here for a reason. I need a life. I deserve a life. I should make the best of it before I die . . ._ she thought.

Verity looked up at Daniel, and sighed.

"I'm sorry . . . it's just that . . . I don't really have a life ―" she stammered.

"What do you mean?" Daniel asked.

Verity shook her cap, and sat down at the long dinner table. As soon as she smelled the food, she had a flashback to when she was five.

Verity was in the kitchen, where she was making soup with her mother.

"Mimar, where's Ilaria? Isn't she supposed to help?" she asked in very baby-like Spanish.

"She'll come in her own good time, Aurora Borealis." her mother answered.

Verity smiled to herself when she heard the nickname, which she particularly liked. Just then, the door creaked open, and her seven-year-old sister entered the kitchen.

"Making soup again?" Ilaria asked. Verity nodded.

"It's the soup which has a secret recipe!" she answered happily.

Ilaria smiled as she helped her little sister stir in the ingredients.

"Ilaria, do you know what would happen if you squeezed in a bit more lemon?" Verity asked.

"The thing would taste as sour as grapefruit, Aurora." Ilaria answered as she sprinkled in pepper. Verity bit her lip.

"Why don't we put in a bucketful of the other ingredients to make up for the sour taste?" she asked as she pushed an empty carton over to the counter, which she stepped on top of so that she was almost as tall as her sister. Ilaria shrugged.

"Good idea . . ." she murmured as she sprinkled salt into the soup, which bubbled.

Verity grinned. "Imagine if this was a volcano! We could blow up half the city!" she giggled.

Ilaria took a spoon and held it towards Verity.

"A volcano's after you!" she laughed. Verity squealed with delight as Ilaria chased her around the kitchen.

"Try and catch me!" Verity taunted as she tossed a piece of paper at her older sister.

"Oh you . . ." Ilaria laughed as she dropped her spoon and tossed the paper back to Verity.

"Now, now. We don't want to make a mess, hijas!" their mother said in the most serious voice she could muster.

But, she was so amused that she joined the young girl-plants in their game, tossing wads of paper around, laughing hysterically.

"Verity! Verity! Earth to Verity!" Daniel said loudly, waving a leaf in front of Verity, who was strangely disconnected from reality.

"What?" she mumbled.  
Daniel shook his cap. "You really are out of it, aren't you?" he sighed.

Verity frowned at her roommate.

"It's nothing . . ." she muttered as the soup was served.  
As she ate the soup, she recalled yet another moment from her past.

It was a sunny day in May. Verity was eleven years old, and her sister was thirteen. The two were on an overnight trip with their school, and it was uncomfortably hot as they set up camp.

"Oh, my GOD! Why is it so hot?" Verity groaned.

"Exactly! It's hotter than California, Florida, and the Philippines rolled into one item!" Ilaria agreed.

Due to the fact that it was painfully humid, by the time all the tents had been set up, the whole congregation of plants was sweltering, with absolutely no means of cooling themselves down. Verity changed that. When she walked over to the rushing river, she found out that the river was strangely untouched by the hot weather.

"Jump in!" the young girl-plant exclaimed as she splashed in the water.

In no time at all, everybody had jumped into the stream, feeling refreshed in no time at all. But even after the group of plants cooled themselves down, they splashed and played until sundown, for the sheer sake of having fun.

"This was an excellent idea Verity!" Ilaria giggled as she splashed water onto her sister.

"Stop it!" Verity screamed as she threw water onto her older sister.

"Verity! What happened? Do you like the soup?" Crazy Dave asked, jolting Verity out of her thoughts. Verity quickly nodded.

"Why are you stuck in la-la land?" Crazy Dave inquired. Verity shrugged as she hurriedly ate her soup. Some plants were staring at the new mushroom, who seemed to be constantly detached from reality. Verity just ignored the slightly rude gawks. As dinner ended, Verity had an increased feeling of dread, for she knew that her shift was near.

"Daniel, what do I do?" she asked.

"Just hypnotize the zombies and make them fight for us, Verity. Remember, I've got your back. No dimwitted carcass will ever attack you." Daniel answered.

The nighttime air was filled with fog. Fog by the kilogram, fog by the bushel.

"How do we see?" Verity asked. Just then, a Plantern tapped on her stem. This particular Plantern was very nasty, and she had red ribbons festooning the top of her glowing head.

"That's the _stupidest_ question I've ever heard in my thirteen years in this world!" she scoffed. "My name's Sara, and I'm the plant that drives away fog and smog, mist and murkiness. I'm the thing that helps you see through this maddening fog which seems to pop up at nighttime, spiral eyes."

Verity gritted her teeth, and was about to retort when Daniel came to her rescue.

"Sara, can you not be so bothersome for _one night_?" he asked.

Sara scrunched up her face at Daniel before she stomped off to her place. Verity rolled her eyes at the Plantern's snide behaviour.

"Wow!" she huffed.

Daniel nodded. "It's been happening ever since she set root here. She's a bubbling pot of irritation and idiocy, Verity." he said.

Just then, an odd, groaning sound could be heard.

"The zombies are coming, Verity. Don't be scared. Remember, I will always be right behind you, watching over you every second," Daniel whispered.

Verity nodded as the first zombie shuffled over to her. _I can do this . . ._ she thought as she made the zombie turn around and attack the opposition. Daniel smiled as he blew up zombies.

"That's how to do it, Verity. Keep it up!" he praised.

Verity smiled a little to herself, and blushed at the extolment, using all her strength to hypnotize every zombie that came into her lane. _This ain't hard! This is undemanding!_ she thought blissfully as she made yet another rotting corpse fight the oncoming horde of zombies. At 8:00, the final zombie fell, headless and armless.

"Whoa, that was incredibly easy!" Verity exclaimed.

"That's what you think, Verity. Just wait until you encounter Dr. Zomboss!" Daniel replied.

"Who's Dr. _Zomboss_?" Verity asked.

"Do you really want to know the story, Verity?" Daniel asked.

Verity nodded impatiently.

"You asked for it, you got it. Well, it was 1898, and it was a dark and stormy night in London, England. A chemist by the name of Edgar George was working in his science lab with his wife, Angelica. But something went terribly wrong." Daniel explained.

"What happened, Daniel? Tell me, por favor," Verity pleaded.

Daniel laughed at Verity's Spanish before continuing.

"Well, you asked for it, Verity. Anyways, they were experimenting with Leyden jars, and Angelica touched one of the jars, and electrocuted herself!" he said, putting a lot of emphasis on the last words.

Verity jumped back, startled and scared. Daniel chuckled at his friend's reaction.

"Relax, hoyden! I thought you weren't scared of anything!" he teased.

"Grrr . . ." Verity growled.

"Fine, fine! I'll continue the story!" Daniel said defensively.

"Alright. Well, Edgar was driven insane in those few minutes after Angelica died. He killed himself. But what only a few of us know is that Edgar was a thanatologist, which meant that he knew various methods to make himself rise from the dead. He took mysterious drugs, which not even his wife knew about. Because of the mysterious drugs, he came back from the dead, with absolutely no recollection of who he was before he became a zombie. Edgar was known as Dr. Zomboss from then on. He was power hungry, and he wanted minions to help him take over the planet. Edgar poured his drugs onto every corpse he could dig up in the graveyard. He spawned a rather dimwitted army, so he made them addicted to eating brains in the hope and belief that they would "get smarter." Kind of like the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde thing, I tell you." he explained.

Verity absorbed this information with interest.

"I get it." she said at last.

"And that reminds me of when my class was supposed to do Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde for a play. Wanna know what happened when we commenced it?" she asked. Daniel nodded.

"Well, these weird things kept on happening when we did it. The windows opened on their own. We heard lightning when it was sunny. We heard weird voices when we were silent, and the electricity seemed to blow itself out, when nothing seemed to be wrong! We thought that some ghosts were haunting the classroom and the whole school!" Verity explained.

Daniel's eyes widened in pure shock.

"Is there an explanation for this?" he asked.

"Oh, hell yeah! In 1989, a class was re-enacting the scene where Mr. Hyde beat up a little girl. Well, the boy-plant playing Mr. Hyde beat up the girl-plant playing the little girl a little _too_ hard. And ever since that incident, the girl-plant's ghost apparently haunts the school, discouraging the play so that no other girl-plant has to meet her maker." Verity answered.

"The weirdest ― and perhaps the funniest ― thing that happened was that random conflagrations kept on starting. And I can honestly tell you that the fire department was _not_ happy about this. They kept on saying, "If this darn thing is cursed, don't bother doing it! If there's a ghost in the school saying "don't do it!" then just listen to her for the love of God! Tell the people at Queen's Park that this inanity has to be dropped from the curriculum if it'll negatively affect the safety of all!" Dang, those were the old days…" she said, bursting into hysterical laughter a second later.

Daniel looked shocked to see Verity laugh, let alone smile.

"You look pretty when you laugh, Verity," he whispered.  
Verity's smile widened.  
"Thanks. That's the best compliment I've ever been given . . ." she murmured. Daniel swiftly recalled Verity's young, exhilarating laugh. _She laughed! She smiled at me!_ he thought with excitement. Verity peeked inside a window to check the time, and found out that it was ten minutes to midnight.

"Daniel, come on. It's already eleven. Lord knows how long we've been sitting here on this lawn! I mean, everybody's asleep, and Crazy Dave's been snoozing for about an hour!" she exclaimed.

Daniel slipped his leaf into Verity's as they went up the stairs, and strangely enough, the girl-plant did not gripe and grouse . . .


	3. Chapter 3

Verity headed down the stairs, and found Crazy Dave and Dr. Andy talking to an overly sociable Puff-Shroom.

"Hi, Crazy Dave. What's happening?" she asked.

Crazy Dave and Dr. Andy exchanged slightly amused looks before they answered.

"This is Araceli, Verity. She's so energetic, I'm telling you ―" Dr. Andy answered before he got cut off.

"Did someone say "Verity"? Is she here?" the Puff-Shroom asked.

"It's me, Araceli!" Verity exclaimed.

The pink-capped Puff-Shroom smiled broadly.

"Verity! You're here!" she exclaimed.

Verity grinned. "But what are you doing here?" she asked.

"My brother. He finds the greatest need to drag me along!" Araceli whinged.

"What if I die on my first night?"

"You _won't_ die, Araceli. I know you're a splendid fighter, because I saw you fight a zombie before. You'll survive. Trust me!" Verity whispered.

Just then, Daniel came downstairs, and saw Verity talking to Crazy Dave, Dr. Andy, and a young Puff-Shroom.

"Verity! Who is this?" he asked.

"Daniel, meet Araceli, an old friend of mine." Verity answered as she stepped aside to reveal the short girl-plant.

"I can't believe it! I'll be making friend after friend tonight! What's your name?" Araceli asked.

"My name's Daniel, Araceli. It's nice to meet you!" Daniel answered.

"I thought my time here'd be scary, but it isn't! I'm so happy I've made a new friend!" Araceli squealed happily.

"Araceli, did you manage to find your mother?" Verity asked softly.

Araceli's smile flickered and died.

"No. I searched high and low. Maybe she left the country, and I'll never get to know her . . ." she responded despondently. "But to help me feel better, I just tell myself that my mother was a jerk to leave me at such a young age. And it works!"  
Verity smiled.  
"I'm glad that you're not gonna pour _all_ of your energy into finding a parent that probably didn't give a crap about you!" she laughed.

"Um, Araceli, you should be getting up to your room now, shouldn't you?" Dr. Andy asked.

"Yessir!" Araceli replied as she grabbed her duffel bag and danced up the stairs.

"Araceli's mother left her?" Daniel asked incredulously. Verity nodded sadly.

"When she was four, her mother just got up and left Araceli with her father and brother. This was supposed to be kept a secret from her, but her brother told her the ugly truth. Araceli's been trying very hard to look for her mother ever since. When we thought we had a lead, we would end up reaching a dead end. Nobody knows about what happened to her mother. Probably died, or left the country altogether. Poor girl . . ." she explained.

"Does she really have to think that her mother's a jerk on order to feel happy?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah. I think it's sad, but I guess that's what I'd do in order to be in high spirits . . ." Verity replied as they took a seat at the dinner table.

"That's terrible! How does Araceli seem like such a bounce-back girl-plant when she has that burden deep down in her heart?" Daniel enquired.

"Don't wanna show off, but I guess that'd be me. One day, while I was at home, a five year old Puff-Shroom named Araceli was brought to my house. She was in a severe emotional state, crying uncontrollably. Araceli was also kicking and screaming, and I thought the house would fall down because of her howls. I was asked to help her feel better. So, after school, and every weekend, I had to play with her, and basically put her through some kind of mental rehabilitation. This went on until I was nine. My assistance had helped Araceli become less and less withdrawn, and become more and more sociable and happy. Two years of providing assistance to Araceli kind of bonded us. She's like a sister, I tell you." Verity responded as she at her compost soup. Daniel could not believe Verity's story.

"No offense, but I find it hard to believe that such a hard-hearted girl like you was able to help a mentally unstable Puff-Shroom." he said.

Verity sighed as she wolfed down the last of her soup.

"Those were the old days, before Ilaria died, Daniel!" she snapped.

"Sorry if I asked you . . ." Daniel apologized.

"It's fine. Don't bother thinking that you'll be able to ask me about my past and receive an answer. I'll tell you when I'm ready." Verity snapped as she marched onto the front lawn for her shift.

For all the plants, the shift was rather uneventful. Green-skinned corpses desperate for a brain, slowly making their way across the lawn. Verity, meanwhile, hypnotized the zombies with ease.

"Ugh! There goes that annoying Hypno-Shroom trying to show off!" Sara growled from her place.

"I'll make a move . . . but not now . . ."

The final wave had hit. There were zombies shuffling across the lawn in droves. Sara, in the intervening time, had snuck away from her spot.

"Hey Verity! Wanna know what happens to toffee-nosed girl-plants?" she asked.  
Verity swivelled around.  
"What happens, mistake of God?" Verity asked.

In response, Sara pushed her right into the multitude of zombies.

"That's what happens, idiot!" Sara hooted.

Daniel had seen the incident, and grabbed Verity before the zombies could eat her.

"Daniel! Why did you save my life after the way I spoke you earlier?" the girl-plant asked.

"That's because I see you as a friend, Verity. You have absolutely no idea how much it would hurt me if I lost you to the zombies." Daniel answered. "Besides, who did this to you?"  
Verity cussed under her breath.  
"Sara pushed me into the zombie horde! She asked me about what happened to high and mighty girl-plants. And instead of answering, she tried to kill me!" she growled.

Daniel just held Verity's leaf as they headed inside.

"Verity, just lighten up. Sara's already in trouble, see?" Daniel pointed to Crazy Dave's office, where Dr. Andy and Crazy Dave were yelling at a trembling Sara.

"'bout time!" Verity sniggered as she and Daniel ascended the stairs.

Verity had learned a valuable lesson that night, and decided to change her life for good, and to start from scratch.

Starting from tomorrow.


	4. Chapter 4

Verity woke up at six o'clock in the evening, the way she usually did. As she sat up, Daniel stirred underneath her bunk.

"Good evening, Verity," Daniel yawned as he got up from his bed.

Verity climbed down her ladder and stretched.

"Good evening, Daniel. You know, I find it quite weird that our daytime is everybody else's nighttime, and vice versa. Don't you?" she asked.

Daniel shrugged. "We were just made that way, Verity. I myself find it mind-boggling at times, but . . . some things . . . we'll just go to grave without knowing about them!" he explained. "So . . . where do you come from? I mean, I'm not racist, so I won't care if you came from Europe or the USA. So, where were you born?" he asked as casually as he could.

"I was born in Toronto. Basically means I wasn't born in Stratford." Verity answered.

"Who are your parents? I'd like to meet them . . ." she asked.

Daniel stiffened, and for a moment, his eyes took on the disturbing look of troubled seas. Verity gasped, and put a leaf on her roommate to comfort him.

"Don't be sad, Daniel! If you can't answer, then don't answer!" she whispered.

Daniel caught his breath, and put his leaf on Verity's.

"Verity, you've changed. Why aren't you prickly anymore?" he asked.

"Because you saved my life yesterday, Daniel. I feel like I owe you a lot for that." Verity answered.

There is something that all plants have ― whether they're mushrooms, water plants, or Cob Cannons. Unlike their human counterparts, plants have some kind of instinct that they can't control, no matter what they do. Most plants call it Love Bravado. When a plant is in love with another plant, his or her Love Bravado can get out of control, making them act in such a way that shows their crush that they have feelings for them ― although that other plant might not exactly be pleased with such volatile acts of affection.

Well, this is exactly what happened. Daniel could feel that love instinct of his go wildly out of control, and before he knew it, he had unintentionally kissed Verity's cheek. Verity gasped, and staggered backwards in surprise.

"Daniel, really?" she huffed after she had regained her composure.

Daniel was blushing madly, and attempted to apologize. "S-sorry, Verity. It's just ―"

"Don't bother apologizing!" Verity growled as she gave Daniel a good slap in the face.  
"You're lucky nobody could see us, or I would've had you tied up and thrown into the dirty ol' Don River!" she snarled as she went downstairs, looking like a thundercloud.

Daniel just remained in his room, shocked, before he went downstairs in a daze, with his cheek hurting and his heart feeling even more hurt. _So much for winning Verity's affections!_ he thought miserably as he sat down at the table, across from Verity. Everybody noticed the fuming girl-plant and sighed, wondering if she'd ever smile around them. Crazy Dave came into the dining room, only to find Verity looking like she wanted to squeeze the life out of somebody. Instead of asking Verity what was wrong, he simply sat down at his seat, wondering if the lawn defense would go badly for the young Hypno-Shroom, as she was angrier than an irritated Fume-Shroom.

Verity and Daniel exchanged no words during the nighttime zombie attack. Nothing was different; there were the usual, green-skinned corpses slowly making their way across the front lawn with one goal: eat brains. The plants fought as hard as they could, and Verity put almost all of her mental energy into hypnotizing the zombies so that they fought for the plants. Sara watched Verity wistfully.

"I wish I could do that kinda stuff!" she mumbled to herself as she stood rather uselessly on the lawn, only clearing the fog.

As the final wave hit, Dr. Andy scattered plant food all over the lawn, to aid the plants with battling the zombies. As Verity gobbled up her share, she felt as if she would fly into outer space ― and for once, her angry emotions fled. She ended up burning every zombie in her lane, much to Daniel and Sara's surprise. Verity herself was shocked at her newfangled ability, and smiled as she relaxed as the other plants struggled in their lanes. After the last zombie gave up the ghost, she headed inside, cap held high. She didn't care about the stupid games that Daniel played, after what happened in their room. Because from now on, Verity Aurora Belleza-Rosa wasn't playing ever again.


	5. Chapter 5

Daniel woke up two hours earlier than Verity to see a wise friend of his: Terrence, a Torchwood. As he headed downstairs, he found Terrence sitting quietly on the floor.

"Hey, Terrence! What's up?" Daniel asked as he sat beside his old friend. Terrence laughed.

"Rien de neuf, Daniel. Nothing's new." he answered.

Then, Terrence lowered his voice.  
"How's it been going with the love life? Have you given love a second chance?" he asked.

Daniel was about to say "no!" before he realized that Torchwoods had a habit of trustworthiness.

"Yes. I'm in love with my roommate." he replied.  
Terrence gasped with a smile.  
"Why d'ya love her? I haven't met her, so just describe her to me!" he exclaimed.

"Her name's Verity Aurora. She's a beautiful Hypno-Shroom with amethyst-coloured eyes. I loved her the second she stepped inside my room. But . . ." Daniel trailed off sadly.

"What is it? Does she love somebody else?" Terrence asked.

Daniel shook his cap.  
"She's super prickly. She was nice for five minutes or so. Until . . ."

"Until what, bête? Don't beat about the bush, 'cause you know I have zero-tolerance for that crap!" Terrence cried.  
Daniel sighed.  
"My Love Bravado, love instinct ― whatever you wanna call it ― went outta control, and I kissed Verity's cheek by accident. Now, she won't speak to me," he whispered.

Terrence whacked Daniel's stem with his branch.

"Oh, Jesus Christ, son of God! You really gonna back down because you accidentally ― ARGH! I had to endure WORSE THINGS before Ramona, that Cactus who's my girlfriend, warmed up to me, Daniel! Don't mean to be Old Yeller, the human who could only yell, even at a funeral! It's just that I don't want you to give up on love after what happened to you-know-who. I want you to give love a second chance. It's worth it!" he ranted.  
Daniel nodded.

"Thanks for the wisdom, old friend. I'll remember to apologize to Verity first thing in the evening. I promise." he murmured as he ascended the steps and went inside his room.

Before he climbed into his bed, he saw Verity, sleeping peacefully on the top bunk. Daniel smiled as he climbed into his bed and shut his eyes.

Verity woke up, and recalled what had happened the previous night, before a wave of guilt overcame her.

"Oh, I truly am STUPID!" she muttered to herself as she climbed down the ladder.  
Daniel woke up before long, and saw Verity getting ready for dinner.

"Verity, I just wanted to tell you something . . ." he murmured as he got up and went up to the girl-plant.

"What is it, Daniel?" Verity asked.

"I just wanted to say that I'm really, truly sorry about last night." Daniel answered, hoping that he and Verity could end this mini-civil-war for once and for all.  
Verity smiled as she turned to face Daniel.  
"It's fine, Daniel. Sorry if I acted unreasonable last night. It's just that . . ." she trailed off with uncertainty.

"It's fine, Verity. To make up, would you like to go out for dinner tonight?" Daniel asked.

Verity grinned and nodded before she went down the stairs. Just as she was about to sit down, she heard a shrill scream come from the front lawn.

"Jesus, Mary and Joseph! Is there a murderer circling the house?!" Verity asked as she ran outside.  
A Marigold shook her head.  
"L-look! It's . . . it's . . ." she tried to get her words out before Verity rooted over towards the spot where the Marigold pointed, and did the sign of the cross.

For right in front of her, there was a bucket filled with a piece of rotting brain.

"Holy crap!" Verity whispered as she gingerly picked up the note that was attached to the brain.

 _Doo u think dat we'll stop ataking? Think agayn! We mite not atak at ower usual tyme, but kome ten schyimes of da klok, wee will atak! Dat is a promiz._

 _Sinserli,_

 _Da zombis_

"Oh, who cares? We'll beat the living tar outta them, one way or another!" Verity scoffed as she entered the house.  
Crazy Dave overheard, and went over to Verity.  
"Who cares about what? And don't tell me you're planning on injuring somebody!" he said.  
"No, no, no! I just received a note from the zombies that said they weren't going to attack for a little bit!" Verity replied.

"This might be trouble . . ." Crazy Dave muttered as he spooned the plants' dinner onto plates.  
Daniel tapped on Verity's stem.  
"What happened? Why haven't the zombies arrived?" he asked.

"Maybe they're high! Maybe the military beat them up! Maybe this Dr. Zomboss you're talking about died of a heart attack!" Verity answered jokingly.

Daniel laughed at her silliness before he tugged on Verity's leaf and led her to the door.

"Now for the restaurant I've been dying to take you to!" he whispered.

It was Verity's turn to blush madly. In no time at all, the two plants had arrived at a tiny eatery run by Fume-Shrooms. As they entered and occupied their seats, a waiter took their orders. While they waited for their food, Daniel and Verity talked endlessly about their history, myths about plantkind that were debunked in 1999, and affairs of state. In five minutes, their food had been served. Verity smiled as she took a forkful of her pasta and shoved into her mouth.

"This food is exceptional!" she declared. Daniel beamed as he ate his food ravenously.

"Glad you liked it, Verity!" he replied.  
Verity giggled.

"I like it a lot, but not as much as I like you..." she murmured.

Then, realizing what she had uttered, she clapped a leaf to her mouth and blushed. Daniel laughed at his friend's reddening face.

"No need to get worked up, Verity! I mean, I really like you . . ." he whispered. Verity wiped the last bit of pasta sauce from her mouth and smiled.

"Really?" she asked quietly.  
Daniel nodded.  
"Of course I like you, you silly thing!" he laughed.

"Oh, be quiet!" Verity exclaimed as she playfully swatted Daniel's leaf.

But instead of rebuking, he just pulled Verity into a kiss. And instead of revolting, the way she did less than 24 hours ago, Verity returned the favour, with feelings of pleasure swallowing her up. Just as a short Fume-Shroom was about to collect Daniel and Verity's plates, he saw the two plants kissing, therefore, he turned abruptly and returned to the kitchen as if he didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Verity and Daniel, meanwhile, had detached from each other, with red faces.

"Daniel, I've changed my mind about this place. I know I thought my life would be miserable here in Stratford, but you've changed that!" Verity whispered as she and Daniel left the restaurant, leaf in leaf.

But little did they realize that the zombies were just waiting to pounce . . .

"Verity! I was looking all over the _earth_ for you!" Sara exclaimed as Daniel and Verity were about to enter the homestead.

"What is it, Sara? You tryna annoy me again?" the Hypno-Shroom asked hotly.

Sara bit back a growl, and did not answer. Instead, she just grabbed Verity's leaf and practically wheeled her out of Daniel's earshot.

"Verity, I know that you and Daniel went out tonight, because I saw you two together. Well, guess what? You're not his first girlfriend!" Sara hissed.

Verity looked confused, and could feel hurt well up inside of her.

"Is this a bloody lie, Sara?" she asked. "'Cause if it is, I might as well hang you from that cherry tree!"

Sara shook her head quickly, her ribbons dancing wildly.

"No, no, no! I speak the truth here, Verity. Listen 'ere. Daniel's first love was a Sun-Shroom called Sierra. But . . . she died, thanks to the zombies. Daniel hasn't been the same since. He's been so frigging hell-bent on being MISERABLE! You might just be together for ten days, then you'll break up! He's never been able to give love a second chance. Never will, by my estimations!" she explained quickly.

"Sara Eradios, if I find out that this is a crappy lie, I'd have a good mind to feed you to the zombies!" Verity hissed as she walked away.

The kiss that she and Daniel shared had left a bitter taste on her heart, and she wanted to run away from anything and everything that had to do with Daniel.

"Verity! Where are you going?" Daniel asked as he came running over to Verity.

"You tricked me! You're just wrapping the past around me!" Verity screamed.

"What in the name of God are you talking about? I'm not wrapping anything of the past around you!" Daniel responded.

"Yes you are! You only want me to replace old Sierra! You don't love me at _all_!" Verity retorted.

Daniel looked as if he had seen a ghost. "Wh-who told you about Sierra?" he asked. "Sara, who said that she was telling the truth!" Verity answered vehemently.

Daniel gasped. "I . . . Sierra's in the past! I don't give a crap about the past anymore! I actually do love you Verity, no matter what! I swear!" he protested.

Verity lowered her eyes, feeling ashamed.

"I'm sorry, if I never got to give you a chance, after what Sara said . . ." she whispered.

Daniel hugged the girl-plant and smiled. But before Verity could reply, she was knocked out by a rock, which appeared to be fired from behind a bush. A zombie stepped out, grabbed the unconscious Verity and tied her up.

"Leave her alone!" Daniel growled as he threatened to hurt the zombie, who just laughed as he held up a knife.

"Say one more word, make one more move and I'll kill her with just one fell swoop of this knife!" the zombie growled.

Daniel could only watch as Verity was carted away.

"Ugh . . . where am I?" Verity moaned as she woke up.

But to her immense surprise, she wasn't in a comfy cot in the infirmary. She was on a lumpy mattress filled with dirt, and her leaves were shackled.

"WHO PUT ME IN HERE?! LET ME GOOOO!" Verity screamed.

A football zombie heard the noise, pulled out his whip, and struck the girl-plant hard.

"Not a chance, missy. We meant it when we said that we'd attack, didn't we?" he snarled.  
Verity growled, and attempted to hypnotize the zombie. Just as she thought she'd break free, the zombie looked away.

"Holy frigging crap! You tryna burn me?" he howled as he covered his eyes with pain.

Seizing her chance, Verity grabbed the whip and struck the football zombie's unprotected arm, causing it to fall off.

"What was that ― HEY GIVE THAT BACK!" the undead corpse growled.

"Never in a millennium, Mr. Sportsman! And I whipped you 'cause it's an eye for an eye. Even the Holy Bible says it!" Verity retorted coolly, despite the fact that the scars on her cap were bleeding slowly.

"We'll continue this discussion some other time. The boss prob'ly wants me . . ." the football zombie muttered as he shuffled away from Verity's cell.  
Verity then remembered Daniel.

 _Will I ever see him again?_ she asked herself. _We've been at odds, and we hardly had a chance to make up!_

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Daniel was in a severe emotional state. He wouldn't eat, he refused any condolence, and he wouldn't come out of his room, much to the chagrin of Crazy Dave.

"Daniel, tú bueno?" Araceli asked timidly as she slipped inside his room.

"I don't know what the hell you're saying, Araceli. This is Canada. You're supposed to speak English, not whatever you just spoke!" Daniel roared.

You'd have expected Araceli to shrink down in fear and be like a Scaredy-Shroom, but she did the exact opposite, for she was as saucy as a Sunflower.

"Excuse me, but I just wanted to know why you're so angry, sorehead! I was just asking if you were all right! And as a Canadian citizen, I have a constitutional right to speak in the language I want, whenever it pleases me! So don't gimme attitude! I asked for an answer, dummy!" she retorted.

Daniel sighed. "Verity's gone, and she probably died, like Sierra! And before I could even prove to her that I loved her . . ." he whispered.

Araceli nodded. "Told ya that I wouldn't judge!" she murmured.

Then, she ran down the stairs and cried hysterically.  
"She was like a sister, and now I lost her?!" she sobbed.

After two days of intense searching, Verity was assumed dead. Everybody said their prayers and moved along with the usual daily grinds of the Davidson Plant Homestead. Everybody, that is, but Daniel. He and Verity might not have been twins, or cousins for that matter, but he somehow, someway knew that she was alive. The boy-plant used this as a catalyst to help him through his days. For hope was what every soul needed to live. Without it, nobody could live, plant or human.


	6. Chapter 6

Verity woke up inside her prison cell with a groan. She could feel negative emotions well up inside of her, for she was deprived of the comfort of waking up on her bunk bed, with Daniel underneath. And she _especially_ missed the comfort of waking up at six in the evening, as nightmares and a chronic depression were waking her up earlier than necessary. Verity sighed as the football zombie who she argued with ran up to her cell.

"Boss wants me to bring you to 'im. Come on, before I strangle you!" he huffed.

Verity bit back a vile oath before she allowed the football zombie to lead her away silently.

"You're unusually cooperative today. Tryna play me?" the undead man asked. Verity shook her cap silently as they stopped in front of an office. The football zombie knocked on the door.

"WHO THE HELL IS IT?!" a voice thundered from inside the office.

"I-it's me, Dr. Zomboss. It's Fred, your best guard!" the football zombie answered shakily.

"COME IN QUICKLY, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!" Zomboss roared as he threw the door open.

Verity did her best not to grimace at the ugly corpse's figure: A head with a ridiculously large brain, red eyes that flashed with insanity and evil, and the rotting lab coat, which was abundantly spattered with blood.

"So I see. This is our prisoner!" Zomboss cackled as he pulled Verity in and threw her onto a wall.

The girl-plant regained her balance and tried to hypnotize the evil doctor. _Let me go... let me go... let me go..._ but to no avail (and you thought that it'd work).

"Fudgenuggets! Don't try that ish with me again or I'll slap you silly!" Zomboss growled as he tried to punch Verity, who automatically ducked.

"Sir, why did you bring her here?" Fred asked. Zomboss switched on a projector, which showed the various countries of the world.

"Little girly, since you won't be getting out anytime soon, allow me to tell you about my plan. I've already conquered an eighth of Europe. In no time, I shall achieve world domination, and I'll eradicate all of you annoying plants for once and for all!" he crowed.

"With what?" Verity asked saucily.

"What kind of dim-witted question is that, you damned stupe?" Zomboss asked as he pulled the sheet off of an object that greatly resembled a Zombot.

"I'll be sending this thing over to your stupid little homestead after a few days' time. At least I can get rid of my biggest threat in Stratford!" he exclaimed, laughing like a madman.

Fred, in turn, sniggered out loud as he shoved a meagre piece of bread into Verity's leaves.

"Show's over. Get into your damn cell, freak of nature." he sneered as he tugged Verity down the hallway, put her leaves in shackles and rammed her into her cell.

As soon as the zombie was gone, Verity burst into hysterical tears, and her howls of agony could be heard everywhere in the zombie base. All the zombies stopped dead as they heard the heart-wrenching wails coming from a vacillated girl-plant.

"Curses! Will the cries ever stop?!" Zomboss screamed as he went down several flights of stairs. Finally, he arrived at Verity's cell.

"Good brainz! Shut up before I end up throttling you!" the undead cannibal screamed as he got a whip and hit Verity so hard that she stopped her crying.

But the girl-plant was strapping and strong, so she hardly winced at the thrash.

"Nobody said you were God, Dr. Zomboss. I don't have to listen to you if I don't want to. Besides, this'll come back to haunt you in its own good time. Trust me, I'll be the one giving you a beating!" Verity retorted as she used all of her energy to burn a small hole in Zomboss' lab coat.

"Just try that again!" he barked. Verity made a lunge for the whip in Zomboss' rotting hand.

"Give that back!" he growled as he dived for the whip.

"Not so fast, Zomboss!" Verity screamed triumphantly as she repeatedly struck her assailant with the slender rope.

"Ouch! Stop that!" Zomboss yelled as he bolted away.

Verity stashed the whip underneath her mattress victoriously.

 _I'll get outta this, Daniel. Wherever you are, I'm coming for you._

* * *

Daniel did not come out of his room all day, and when someone brought him food and water, all he did was drink the water and take a few bites out of his baguette. He turned to his bed, and could have sworn he saw Verity sleeping soundly, until the vision just flickered and died.

"I must be hallucinating . . ." Daniel muttered as he tried to read a book.

But as he flipped through the pages, all he saw was the word "Verity" written over and over again. The boy-plant tried to draw, but the pencil felt as heavy as a house. _I wonder if Verity is dead. Maybe she is, but I have a feeling in my roots that she's alive. I'm positive she's alive._ Just then, Crazy Dave knocked on the door. Daniel sighed dejectedly.

"Come in, and make it quick," he groaned.

Crazy Dave threw the door open and sighed.

"Daniel, come on. It's almost time for your shift." he whispered.

"Do I really have to go?!" Daniel moaned.

"You were sent here to defend the lawn, Daniel. You weren't sent here to be a useless couch lump!" Crazy Dave responded.

"But . . . Verity . . ." Daniel sputtered.

"You could live without Sierra, Daniel. You can survive yet another time, can't you?" Crazy Dave asked.

Daniel shook his cap slowly.  
"See, Sierra and I had a heated argument before she died. We never got to make up, and frankly, I don't really care. Ghosts don't exist, so Sierra's spirit won't haunt me!" he exclaimed.

"Just get up for the love of God! Verity's dead, and we all know that! So stop your shilly-shallying and GET OUT THERE!" Crazy Dave roared.

Daniel bit back a horrible oath before resigning himself, although he fired a parting shot at his superior.

"You never seem to have faith in anything! I have a feeling in my roots that Verity is alive! I _know_ it!" he yelled.

Crazy Dave rolled his eyes.  
"You've been in a hysterical emotional state, Daniel. I'll have Dr. Andy look you over to make sure you're not coming down with anything . . ."

Daniel could only growl as he was put into place on the front lawn.


	7. Chapter 7

**_Three months later_**

Verity woke up, feeling ready to break free. She had spent the past months devising breakout plan. And she was positive that it would work. As she looked at the wall, her gaze fell upon the words she etched with a shard of metal a month ago.

 _Verity Aurora B. was here.08/13/2015._

"I can't believe how long I've been here . . ." Verity mused as she found a mirror.  
She gasped at her reflection; the girl-plant had a black eye, she was very skinny, she had cuts and bruises all over her body, her lips were cut, and the most prominent thing was that she had even _more_ scars on her cap, as a result of a particularly harsh beating she received from a shockingly physically powerful Imp.

"Who have I become?" Verity asked herself.

She shook her cap so that she could focus on her insane, intrepid escape plan. _First, I need to cause a diversion . . ._ the girl-plant thought as she took a deep breath and began to sing in an entrancing voice.

"Steal away, steal away,

Steal away home;

Steal away into the loving arms of Jesus!

Steal away, steal away . . ."

"What in the good name of bwainz is going on in here?!" a zombie with keys in one hand asked as he approached Verity's cell.

"Shut up ―" the zombie tried to yell, but Verity looked straight into the zombie's eyes.

 _Give me the keys . . . give me the keys . . . give me the keys . . ._

And, finally, it worked. The zombie tossed the keys into Verity's cell and took off.

"Perfect!" Verity muttered as she picked up the keys. After she tried key after key, the girl-plant eventually managed to unlock the door and run out, without sounding any alarms.

"Daniel, here I come!" she said confidently as her walking turned into a run.

* * *

"Daniel, it's been three months! Verity's probably been beaten to death, and wasn't given a proper epitaph!" Terrence grumbled.

"HOW'D YOU KNOW?!" Daniel retorted.

"Common sense, bête! Look 'ere. I don't _care_ about what you think. I don't want you to slowly kill yourself with agony! I mean, you're refusing to eat, you're having a chronic depression . . ." Terrence protested.

"I DON'T CARE! EVERYBODY IN HERE'S SO STUPID! LET ME GO EFFING DIE!" Daniel screamed as he ran out of the homestead through the side door.

After half an hour, he arrived at his old home.

"I'll live here alone. If I have to, I'll kill myself just to join Verity up in heaven." the boy-plant said to himself as he climbed in through a window.

Nothing had changed at all. Daniel ascended the stairs and entered his old room. It still contained the friendly clutter, and a gift he never opened.

"I wonder . . ." Daniel mused as he opened the box, which revealed a ring, a necklace, and a note.

 _To my young boy-plant,_

 _This is my special birthday gift to you. It was my dear grandmother's gift from my grandfather. Although I might be long-dead by the time you fall in love, give this to your girlfriend. On your wedding day, present her with the ring, in which Avalina and I have engraved messages. The diamond represents the endurance of love, and the ring itself symbolizes the infinite love that a boy-plant and a girl-plant should have towards one another. Also remember that I will always be proud of you, no matter what you do. Your ever-loving father, Elias._

Daniel wiped away his tears as he held the box and the note to his beating heart. _The thirteenth birthday we never got to celebrate . . ._ he thought dismally. The boy-plant then looked around his room for any more memories of his parents ― or his family, period. In due course, he found a photo album, and his keepsake box, filled with tiny tokens of good times. Daniel closed his eyes as he recalled idyllic times, before the deaths of his parents. But something interrupted his flow of thoughts, and he could visibly see a girl-plant running through God-knows-where. The girl-plant had violet eyes, and a colourful cap. Daniel opened his eyes, and he knew one thing: Verity was alive, and had escaped from her prison. Wasting no time, he tossed the photo album and the jewellery box inside a duffel bag lying around his bed.

 _Wherever you are, Verity, I'm coming for you._


	8. Chapter 8

A week had passed. Verity could only use her knowledge of the stars to guide her through the unfamiliar terra firma. Because of a lack of water and food, Verity had odd delusions, making her scream something like "Stop it! I'll slap you silly, damned bastard!" or "I hate you! I hate you!" spontaneously. And as if to make things even worse for the girl-plant, she was slowly losing her memory; she had a rare form of amnesia that could only be cured with food and drink. Verity even had trouble remembering the names of her mother, her roommate, her human superiors at the homestead and ― yes ― even the name of her long dead sister, Ilaria. Her mysterious mental problem had taken a toll for the worse, and every night, she cried herself to sleep underneath a fruit tree in the middle of nowhere-land. Then, Verity had a dream.

She could briefly see Daniel, holding a duffel bag, calling out her name ― which she hardly remembered ― in a broken part of Stratford, and then she could see a path, from where she was sleeping, leading all the way home to her home: the homestead.

After that, she woke up.

 _I know the way . . . I know the way . . ._ Verity muttered to herself as she woke up in the early evening.

As she stared at the crystal waters of a pond nearby, she gasped, for she was even more shocked at her appearance.

Verity's purple eyes had turned dull and bloodshot, and they had black spots around them, due to lack of peaceful sleep. She was even skinnier, her cap's colour had become lacklustre, and, in short, she looked like a lost plantly soul that had, one way or another, escaped from Hell and was trying to live on earth.

"I've changed. And I've learned a lesson. I'll never be that self-interested and disrespectful girl-plant ever again. I'll never run away from home again." Verity promised to herself as she followed the path that was in her dream.

* * *

Daniel had approached what he knew Crazy Dave would call "the inhospitable surroundings of nothingness."

"Come on! I travel for a week, and this is what I get?" he complained.

Just then, he saw a flash of colour.

"No way, José! Verity can't be here. She's probably dead, like Crazy Dave said. I guess I was just a blathering idiot! I should've kept my big fat mouth shut and quit my shilly-shallying, like Dave asked me to!" Daniel said to himself, with tears slowly running down his dark cheeks.

But the flash of colour grew closer and closer . . . until the boy-plant could make out a battered, thirteen year old Hypno-Shroom with a dark face, a skinny stem, and lacklustre amethyst eyes. To cut a long story short, she looked like the lost soul of a girl-plant who died of a broken heart. But something just told Daniel to go over to the Hypno-Shroom. Was it divine intervention? Was it his depression, which made him do things without thinking? He would never know, in the long run.

"Excuse me, but do you need help?" Daniel asked as he approached the careworn girl-plant. _I won't bother getting my hopes up. It can't be Verity. Maybe it is . . ._ he thought.

"Yes. Can you direct me to the nearest shelter?" the girl-plant asked in a voice creakier than a rusty old hinge.

"Follow me." Daniel murmured as he took the girl-plant's leaf and led her back the way he came.

"What's your name?" he asked as they turned onto an alleyway contained within a part of Stratford that had given up the ghost long ago.

Now, what Daniel did not know ― at least, at the present time ― was that the girl-plant he was currently assisting was Verity, who just happened to be deeply affected by three months of meagre food, floggings, and her mysterious mental illness combined with amnesia.

"My name's Mirabella. But just call me Bella." Verity answered indifferently.

Daniel's heart sank, for his worst fear was confirmed: Verity was dead, and his dream was just a dream, although (as you could already see) that was not the case. After ten minutes, the two plants had arrived at a small police station.

"Not the Royal York, but there's food and water in here." Daniel whispered as he led Verity in.

But, when the girl-plant switched on the light, her features, which Daniel remembered so well, were thrown into greater relief. Daniel was overjoyed when he saw this, but hid it. _If this is Verity, alive and not-so-well, then why did she call herself Mirabella?!_ he asked himself.

"Thank you, kind stranger. What is your name?" Verity asked.

"It's Daniel. And . . . you're welcome, Aurora." Daniel answered, anxiously waiting for Verity's reaction.

Verity could briefly recall the name, when all the pieces came flying together.

"Daniel! Daniel! Daniel!" she screamed as she ran up to the boy-plant and hugged him, nearly to the point of choking.

"Verity! I had a feeling it was you!" Daniel exclaimed.

Verity laughed and kissed him. Daniel returned the kiss, and there they stayed for a few minutes, revelling in their eternal love for each other. She then detached herself and gave Daniel a thick-skinned slap.

"You idiot! Why did you go on a suicidal mission just to find me?!" she yelled.

"S-sorry, Verity. I was just so worried about you . . ." Daniel apologized.

"It's fine, Daniel. I've learned my lesson." Verity whispered with a smile.

"And why did you call yourself Mirabella?" Daniel asked in a puzzled voice.

Verity's smile flickered and died.

"I guess I have some sort of amnesia, combined with my mental illness ―" the girl-plant stopped dead in her explanation, realizing what she said.

"You never told me about any mental illness!" Daniel cried.

"I know you hate me now, Daniel. You probably think I'm a crazy lunatic." Verity murmured as she wiped away her tears.

"I don't hate you, Verity! Just tell me, and it'll be better!" Daniel protested.

"I'll tell you the story, Daniel. My sister Ilaria was abducted by the zombies. I fought them with all my might, but Ilaria eventually fell. I wanted to do anything to escape the pain. I took drugs to help me feel better, but they could only work for so long. My mother eventually found out about the drugs, and told me to stop taking them. But I still had a weird problem, so I had to be taken to a psychiatrist. I found out that I had a mysterious, unidentifiable mental problem, thanks to the drugs and my grief. Will it go away? I'll never know." Verity whispered.

"Verity, it's okay. I lost my parents when I was ten. They were murdered by Zomboss. And then, I lost Sierra. I haven't been the same ever since . . ." Daniel murmured.

"I lost my father to the zombies when I was three." Verity confessed.

Daniel smiled. "See? Telling somebody your secrets can really help!" he exclaimed.

Verity grinned as she kissed Daniel once more.

"I missed you, Daniel. Those zombies . . . they treated me so badly . . ." she whispered.

"I missed you too, Verity. I thought you had died, especially when you called yourself Mirabella. You know, if you had died, I don't know if I'd ever be able to live!" Daniel whispered.

"Let's head home, Daniel." Verity replied.

"I thought you said that the homestead was anything but home!" Daniel cried.

"If I'm with you, then it's home." Verity murmured as she and Daniel made their way back to the homestead.

At 9:00, the two plants had arrived at the homestead, with the door answered by Crazy Dave.

"Daniel! Where have you been? I thought the zombies got you!" he yelled.

"He went looking for me!" Verity piped up.

Crazy Dave saw the wan Hypno-Shroom by Daniel's side and almost fainted.

"You . . . you're dead! The zombies beat you to death, remember?" he sputtered.

"I'm not a ghost. I am Verity Aurora, in the skin!" Verity replied.

Crazy Dave reached out a trembling hand to touch Verity's cap.

"No way! No way!" he muttered.

After blinking a few times, he coughed. "Honestly, what the hell did I drink last Friday?" Crazy Dave asked himself. After an uncomfortable silence, the human went up to his room.

"I swear to God, I won't drink vodka ever again!" he mumbled.

Araceli, meanwhile, had heard the upheaval and went into the front hall to see what was amiss. When she saw Verity, she dropped the items in her leaves and ran over to hug Verity.

"VERITY! I thought you died!" she squealed.

Verity detached Araceli with a giggle. "You'll squeeze the life outta me!" she laughed.

Araceli just jumped with joy.  
"Twenty-one gun salute to Verity's arrival!" she crowed.

Daniel just smiled as the Puff-Shroom jumped about, jumping with joy. She even found her brother and gave him a hug before proceeding to start a small celebration.

"Araceli's positively drunk with bliss!" Verity snickered.

"So am I, Aurora. So'm I." Daniel whispered.


	9. Chapter 9

The next morning, at 6:00, Dr. Andy woke up in foul spirits, unlike most days. It was what his mother would like to call "the doldrums of the morning". The doctor sighed as he glanced at a picture consisting of himself as a young boy, standing with his mother and his father.

"Poor mother . . . if only she wasn't dead . . ." he muttered as he slipped on his spectacles and went downstairs to make himself coffee.

Now, Dr. Andy wondered why his daily grinds had to begin this way, an hour before most of the plants woke up. Was there the occasional day when he hated his work just because of this? Absolutely. But, why should he be bitter? Why should he be bitter when he was paid well by a well-to-do stock marketer? After an unremitting day of helping injured plants, and answering their dim-witted questions, the evening came, the doctor's worst nightmare.

Why?

Because of the mushrooms that woke up, giving him twice as many plants to deal with.  
Because of their impolite ways.  
Because they were simply needy, hungry and silly PLANTS!

Dr. Andy could scarcely stand the stampede of mushrooms hungry for dinner. And could his day get any worse? Yes, for Daniel had come to him with the one-millionth question of the day.

"'Evening, doctor." he greeted Dr. Andy as he sat down at the table, not far from the doctor.

"Good evening, Daniel." Dr. Andy grunted, trying to keep the irritation out of his voice.

"I just wanted to ask you . . . why hasn't God stopped Zomboss?" Daniel asked.

Dr. Andy choked on his coffee. "Don't be sacrilegious! And don't ask any more stupid questions!" he yelled.

Daniel nodded and found another seat that was considerably further away from the irritated human. Verity came down five minutes later, her eyes somewhat bloodshot and bleary.

"Good . . . evening, Daniel," she yawned as she sat beside the boy-plant.

"Hey there, Verity. Why so tired?" Daniel asked.

"I honestly don't know . . ." Verity answered.

Then, Dr. Andy walked by to serve the plants dinner.

"Wait . . . Dr. Andy? Do you know what would happen if I lit all of the candles on the ledges of a church?" Verity asked.

Dr. Andy rolled his eyes. "I honestly don't know, Verity Aurora. And don't ask your stupid questions anymore!" he barked before he stalked into the kitchen.

"Wow! What's up with him?" Verity huffed.

"I dunno, but I know what we need one thing," Daniel replied.

"Payback!" Verity responded.

Daniel grinned. "But how?" he asked.

Verity did not answer until she and Daniel finished their taco dinner.

"Come with me!" she whispered.

* * *

"The graveyard?" Daniel sputtered.

Verity nodded, holding a paper bag in one leaf.

"This ain't St. Barnabas, Daniel. No zombies creep around here!" she answered as she kicked open the gate and pulled Daniel inside the eerie graveyard.

"What now?" the boy-plant asked.

"Hold on . . ."  
Verity headed inside the chapel, and exited a moment later with spades in her leaves.

"We're digging up bones!" she exclaimed.

So the two plants set to work, digging up bone after bone.

"How many do we need?" Daniel asked.

Verity stopped her digging and counted the bones in the paper bag.

"We have enough! Now let's shock the doctor dead!" Verity joked as she hauled Daniel back into the homestead.

Dr. Andy answered the door.

"What have you got there?" he demanded.

"Buns!" Verity answered, sweet as maple syrup. "Would you like one?"

"Most certainly, m'dear," Dr. Andy mumbled as he took the bag.

The doctor reached into the paper bag, but instead of a bun, he pulled out . . . a bone! When he saw what he had produced, he dropped it like a burning stick, causing Daniel to howl with laughter. Verity, on the other hand, cackled like crazy.

"This is not funny!" Dr. Andy growled.  
"Listen! You're lucky that no other plants were nearby, or else you would have been reckoned truly insane! Besides, commonsensical plants don't pull these stupid stunts! Do you understand?" he scolded.  
Verity stopped laughing.  
"Yes, sir." she said.

Then she cleared her throat.

"I'm planning on collecting a human skull next. Araceli's already collected a fine amount of human bones, and she even has a skull! Her skull has a crack in it, because the woman who it belonged to was murdered by an axe blade!" she exclaimed.

Dr. Andy almost fainted from terror, and Daniel was practically rolling on the floor with amusement.

"You should've seen your face!" he hooted.

At that moment, Crazy Dave came in, followed by a Kernel-Pult.

"I need somebody to go to The Junction in Toronto to fetch me some supplies." the human commanded.

The Kernel-Pult, meanwhile, neared Verity.

"Oy, bright-cap. The name's Jason. Is you's a relation of Ilaria's?" he asked.

Verity nodded.  
"I'm actually her sister," she answered.

Jason lowered his voice.

"Y'know, Ilaria's not as innocent and great as you's think, Verity." he drawled.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Verity hissed.

"Ilaria's a bleedin traitor, that's what I'm talking 'bout!" Jason replied.

"H-how?" Verity asked.

"See, she came here to help, and leaked our plans to Zomboss, so we kicked her out in her first month. He almost killed the lot of us! Methinks you's a double agent, and methinks that you ought to be kicked outta here in case you's was aimin your leaf with a two way spy," Jason responded.

Verity could hardly believe it. Everything came flying together: Ilaria's month-long absence, why she came back in a foul mood, and why there was friction between Ilaria and her mother during her last few weeks of life. Verity jumped up and strode out to the door. She wanted to run away, albeit she almost got herself killed the first time she pulled that stunt. Verity knew that what Jason said couldn't be true, and that it could only be a misunderstanding. She wanted to abscond from anything that had to do with putting blame on dead Ilaria's cap.

"Verity! Where are you going?" Crazy Dave asked.

"Away." Verity answered as she tried to go out the door.

"Come back here!" Crazy Dave roared as he grabbed Verity's leaf.

"I . . . don't . . . care!" the girl-plant screamed as she started flailing and kicking like there was no tomorrow.

"Verity! Calm down!" Dr. Andy commended from his chair.

But to no avail; the girl-plant's mental illness had taken a toll for the worst. She threw any books in her reach around, scaring Daniel to the highest degree.

"Oh my God!" he murmured as Verity's howls increased in volume.

Tears poured down her face, she sounded like a troubled ghost, and she looked as if she would die sooner or later of a heart attack.

"Verity! Verity! Calm down! I'm right here! It'll be all right!" Daniel attempted to comfort the psychologically unstable girl-plant, until she just became limp in Crazy Dave's hands.

"Oh Jesus! Is she gonered?" Jason asked.  
"I swear, I didn't think me'd give 'er the judders by tellin her the truth!"

Daniel frowned.  
"Speak normal English, Jason! I don't know what the hell you're talking about!" he growled.

Then he turned towards the two humans.

"Will she be fine?" Daniel asked worriedly.  
Dr. Andy shrugged.  
"It's aberrant electrical activity and an inexplicable problem in Verity's brain that gave her this paroxysm, and made her out for the count. She'll live, but I don't know how I'll revive her. If I can't, chances are, she'll be asleep for the rest of her life." he muttered as he took the unconscious Verity into the infirmary.

Daniel followed Dr. Andy into the small room, and couldn't put up with seeing Verity's face, full of cuts and bruises, etched with agony as she took raspy breaths. He sat beside the girl-plant and attempted to wake her.

"Verity! It's me, Daniel. Wake up, it will be all right . . ." Daniel whispered into Verity's ear.  
"Come on . . . open those pretty eyes . . . open those sweet purple eyes . . ."

Then finally, Verity's eyes began to move, and they fluttered open.

"Daniel..." she murmured in a wheezy voice.

"Verity! I thought you died back there! I saw you kicking and screaming, and then you just became limp and lifeless!" Daniel exclaimed as tears of joy welled up in his eyes.

"Daniel, if I died, I think part of you would've died. We're practically twins, remember?" Verity snapped.

Daniel laughed as he kissed her cheek.

"You're sounding more like yourself now, aren't you?"

Verity shrugged. "I'm just feeling so weak right now . . ." she mumbled as she fell asleep.

Dr. Andy watched the scene with amazement.

"Daniel! How . . . how did you . . . revive her?" he asked.

"I don't know . . ." Daniel answered.  
"It's probably a miracle of some sort . . ."

Dr. Andy just patted Daniel's stem.

"Go to bed, Daniel. You can talk to Verity some more tomorrow." he murmured.


	10. Chapter 10

Verity woke up at four in the afternoon with a sigh. She felt light-headed and she couldn't seem to move at all. Then, Dr. Andy came in, with several medical instruments in his hands.

"Verity, I'll need to give you a once-over." he said briskly.

Verity didn't speak; she could only grunt her disapproval, until she managed to open her mouth, although her speech came out rather muddled.

"I sons nees a checkup. Gis me my sinner!" she protested.

Dr. Andy rolled his eyes.  
"Verity, you don't realize that you almost died two times! I need to make sure that you're not dying!" he snapped.

Verity clamped her mouth shut and tried not to scream as shot after shot was injected into her, tormenting her. Until finally, she had lost it.

"Leave me alone!" the distressed girl-plant screamed as she finally found the strength to leap out of bed.  
"I'd know if I were on my last legs!" she yelled.

Dr. Andy sighed as he forced a pill into Verity's mouth.

"Calm down! And get your sleep!" he grumbled as he shoved Verity back into her bed.

Verity fell asleep in no time at all, feeling more and more troubled, like something bad was going to happen later that evening.

Daniel woke up at six in the evening, the way he typically did. He tiptoed into the infirmary, where Verity was sleeping.

"Verity! Verity!" he hissed.

Verity's eyes flickered open, and she blushed at the sight of Daniel coming over to be with her.

"'Evening, Verity. You all right?" he asked.

Verity didn't speak, although her eyes clearly said, "all right".

Daniel smiled wanly.  
"Well, I can't see why I can read your mind all of a sudden, but it's good to know that you're not down in the dumps." he whispered.

Verity did not shift or speak.

"Why don't you move a single bit?" Daniel asked softly.

Then, he knew what to do. He slapped Verity. Hard.

"Enough is enough of your indolence! I don't want you to lie here in this bed, not moving a leaf or a root for the rest of your life! Besides, the other plants would need you on the lawn!" Daniel scolded.

Verity finally got up, without speaking. She stalked wordlessly out of the infirmary and avoided Daniel for the whole evening. Crazy Dave noticed Verity's moodiness and sighed.

"Verity, Verity, Verity. Troubled soul that we can't fix . . ." he muttered.

"Dave, she's had to endure months of torture from zombies, as well as other personal experiences. We heard her tale about how she helped Araceli recover from her seemingly terminal misery. Perhaps we can do the same . . ." Dr Andy whispered.

"How?! Verity's just mentally unstable, and we should just dismiss her before she injures somebody during those temper tantrums of hers!" Crazy Dave protested.  
"Besides, what makes you think that I'll want us to waste our precious time trying to heal a girl-plant that's beyond help?"

Dr. Andy closed his eyes and sighed.

"Dave, I know you've been feeling stressed lately after Verity almost died. I know you think that we'll be treating Verity like a VIP, and that we'll have no time for the other plants. Don't worry, Dave. Of course we'll pay attention to the other plants, while attempting to cure Verity!" he reasoned.  
"Besides, I _knew_ you assisted Verity in her early days! I was there when she first opened her eyes! So were you! Remember how we predicted a slight mental instability that could be trounced? You were so caring back then, Dave. You can still be that way!" Dr. Andy rebuked.

Crazy Dave was pissed, but instead of riposting, he just sighed.

"Fine. You got me. Let's say that we give it a go for a week."

Dr. Andy clapped his hands with satisfaction before marching out of the room.

"Hey, Verity!" Sara called out to the girl-plant, who was swinging back and forth on a swing attached to an alder tree.

Verity gracefully leapt off the swing and landed a few feet in front of Sara.

"What's up?" she asked.

Sara sighed. "Y'know, I'm sorry if I seemed mean and all. I just wanted to say that I want to be square with you." she answered as she leaned on the alder tree.

"For real?" Verity squeaked.

"Yeah. I mean, just last year, my parents and friends got killed in a terrorist attack back in Spain. Had no family, had to be relocated here, and I guess that started my meanness. M'sorry. I learned a lesson overnight." Sara answered.

"Let's be friends." Verity smiled as she shook leaves with Sara before heading inside.

Daniel ran into her not long after.

"Verity, sorry if I hit you, it's just that ―"

"Oh be quiet for the love of God! It's fine, and I didn't need stitches for that!" Verity cut off Daniel tersely.

"Good to know that you're okay and that you're not upset." the boy-plant whispered.

Verity shook her cap in frustration.  
"No need to pour honey into my mouth, Daniel. I'll be fine!" she snapped.

"Hey . . . Crazy Dave and Dr. Andy have been talking about ridding you of all sadness in the form of therapy. Are you in?" Daniel asked.

Verity looked back at her past, and sighed. The past was supposed to be in the past, and it was not supposed to interfere with the present. Verity smiled and looked into Daniel's red eyes.

"Count me in!" she exclaimed, before high-leafing Daniel

The next few days, Crazy Dave and Dr. Andy, with some assistance from Daniel, helped Verity overcome her mental block by allowing her to confess her feelings, and let go of negative thoughts. And surprisingly enough, the psychotherapy worked perfectly.

"What was that you were saying about Verity being hopeless?" Dr. Andy asked Crazy Dave as they watched Verity laugh with Araceli and a Sea-Shroom.

Crazy Dave could only smile and say, "It was just one of my harebrained theories. Sorry 'bout that."

But the happiness disappeared in a flash one evening.

"Daniel, is it true that you actually want to let go of Sierra?" Verity asked as she played with the water in the pool.

"Of course it's true!" Daniel answered hotly.

"How do I know you're not lying? Almost nobody I can seem to trust!" Verity quipped.

"Really? Then why did you fess to me about your rotten past?" Daniel asked.

"Oh, so I see. You were pretending to be a friend, and you decided to turn on me, last minute! You wanted to spread rumours about me!" Verity roared.

"That ain't true! I swear to God!" Daniel replied. "Don't try to piss me off, Daniel. You know that nonsense _never_ works with me!" Verity growled.

"You know what? I wish you never even existed! You're just trying to lead me in circles!" Daniel screamed at the girl-plant before he made off towards the homestead, muttering something like "Rotten girl! I always knew that she never loved me!"

Verity looked on towards the graveyard, and could see a robot with a zombie-like head making its way closer and closer until she knew one thing.

 _Trouble is arriving. I must call the others._


	11. Chapter 11

"Crazy Dave! Crazy Dave!" Verity screamed as she bolted inside the homestead.

All the plants in the vicinity stared at her as if she was a mad-plant. "What the _hell_ are you talking about?" Crazy Dave asked as he looked away from his stock marketing papers.

"Zomboss is coming! I saw with my own two eyes!" Verity exclaimed.

Jason ran up and tapped Crazy Dave's leg.

"Oh, holy spots! Verity's a bleedin traitor! She told Zomboss to come while we were unprepared!" he shouted.

Dr. Andy came in as soon as he heard the hubbub.

"Jason! What are you saying?" he yelled.

"Just shut up!" Crazy Dave roared as he pulled a handle, which sounded the alarm.

"Ya listen 'ere, girly. I ody Ilaria for all she's worth. Me's clanship odies you's clanship, so we arranged to have her murdered. It was my sis, Chiarette, who telled Zomboss to viol. Tell a soul, and I'll rip your heart out before you can sadden!" Jason hissed into Verity's ear.

But before she could rant, she could feel herself being swept along the tide of plants rushing onto the front lawn. By the time everyone had gotten into position, the Zombot had gotten very close to the homestead. But instead of crushing the houses in front of it, it released a flying pad, with Dr. Zomboss himself cackling like a madman.

"Plants of idiocy, we meet again!" he crowed.

"Zomboss. I should've known it was you!" Daniel growled from behind Verity.

He stepped in front of her, glaring at the undead man.

"I know you killed my parents. I saw you running out of my house with a bloody knife in one of your hands!" he snarled.  
Dr. Zomboss rolled his eyes.  
"Shut up! Your parents were such hindering spies that I had to get rid of them. Besides, I bet that God needed them more than you, so he allowed me to take away their pathetic, worm-filled lives!" he chortled.

Then he saw Verity.  
"Oh, so we meet again, little piñon nut. I see you escaped my base. Isn't that a pity that you'll have to die some other, more painful way!" Zomboss simpered in a sickly sweet voice.

"ATTACK!" a Peashooter screamed as he and the other plants massacred Zomboss' flying pad until it fell out of the sky.

Dr. Andy and Crazy Dave clapped in praise. Jason, meanwhile, took this moment to allow Verity to be killed.

"Verity didn't get kidnapped! She decided to tell Zomboss to attack in a certain way so that we'd all be killed!" he yelled, in his first bit of normal English.

All of the other plants backed away from Verity, creating a small ring around her.

"Verity! Is this true?" Daniel asked, his voice full of concern.

"No! I SWEAR TO GOD ―" Verity tried to answer, but Jason had grabbed her by the stem.

"LET GO!" the girl-plant shrieked as she tried to kick Jason away, but she was only weakened by the catcalls and jeers of the witnessing plants.

"Sic her, Jay-Z! She's a frigging traitor!"

"Don't let her pisscalls dent ya! Just attack!"

"Kick her face! Choke her to death!"

Jason just grinned as he tossed butter and kernels at Verity, and his cup of joy could not get any more full as he punched Verity and abused her to a criminal extent. But, she finally managed to pin Jason's leaves behind his stem, and managed to kick him. Verity had a bleeding nose and bleeding lips, but she didn't care. As long as Zomboss was defeated, for now. A Cattail shot a spike at Verity, who managed to duck the projectile by a centimetre.

"Don't say Jay and I didn't warn you! You're a traitor, a liar and a cheat, like ill-minded Ilaria!" she sniffed as she shot yet another spike at Verity's leaf.

Verity felt as if she wanted to grab a gun and shoot the two plants down. But no; she'd get into more trouble, and she'd go to hell.

"DON'T SAY THAT ABOUT MY SISTER! YOU'RE THE EVIL ONE!" Verity screeched.

"That ain't true!"

"PSH! Verity's a liar!"

"Jesus, Chiarette! Just kill this criminal and have done with it!"

"To hell with that idiot!"

"If she's evil, then just dispose of her!" Daniel piped up.  
Verity gasped at those words.

"Daniel! H-how could you do this to me?!" she cried.

"Enough of your foolishness! Psh, I thought you were smarter! You don't love me! I know you're my enemy. I can feel it. Good-bye!" Daniel snorted.

Verity tried to hold back her tears. How could a whole homestead of 300 plants turn against her at this time? She'd never know. Zomboss, meanwhile, had risen up from the pile of debris.

"Daniel, I'm afraid I might have to finish the job I started with your parents three years ago. And if you join them up in Heaven, tell them I said "Psh!" To Hell with you and your ass!" he jeered as he pulled out a shotgun, and prepared to shoot Daniel.

"I'll count down for you! Five . . . four . . ." he laughed.

Verity could feel so much hatred towards Daniel, that she didn't care if he died at the hands of a convict. Because, quite frankly, he deserved it.

". . . two . . . two and three quarters . . . two and a half . . . two and a quarter . . . one!"

Zomboss pulled the trigger, and let his deadly bullet fly. But something came into Verity, that made her roots move without her thinking. Was it Providence? Was it brazen stupidity? Was it a desire to commit suicide, even after days of psychotherapy? She would never know.

"NO!" Verity screamed as she jumped in front of Daniel, shielding him from the bullet.  
Daniel gasped.

"Verity, don't!" he screamed.

But too late; his cap could feel the impact he was spared. And when he looked down, he saw Verity lying there, every trace of pain erased from her face.

"Verity . . . no . . ." Daniel whispered as he held her in his leaves to support her one last time.

For Verity, the pain disappeared as she fell to the ground.

 _If this is dying, then it ain't painful!_

Soon, she could feel herself closing her eyes, and that was the end of Verity Aurora. It was curtains. Nada. And that was that. Verity's somewhat stupid act of bravery had somehow, someway, created a wind that knocked Zomboss down a second time. Daniel, meanwhile, was still cradling the lifeless girl-plant, tears slowly running down his face.

"I . . . Verity . . . I'm so, so sorry about what I said! I mean it! Don't leave me now! Please!" he whispered.

Then he looked up at the sky, and could see a star rising up, higher and higher, until it stopped atop the North Star, reigning as eternal queen of the heavens.

"She's gone, Daniel. Nobody ever survives a shot like that." Sara whispered as she knelt down beside Daniel.

Araceli was desperate to see what was going on.

"Where's Verity? I want to see her!" she whimpered.

Crazy Dave hugged the tiny mushroom. _What should I say?_ he asked himself.

Then, it simply came to him.

"Verity's gone up to be with Ilaria and her father. She's all safe now. You'll join her when it's time." he whispered.

Araceli just burst into tears. "I'm glad to know that, but when can I come?" she asked in a soft voice as she knelt beside Daniel.

Then, two doves came and landed on the dead girl-plant's cap.

"Shoo! Damned birds!" Daniel growled.

"Daniel, look! They're trying to heal Verity!" Araceli pointed out.

And it was true. A bird picked out the bullet and sent it to the ground, while the other lapped up the streaming blood, leaving a nasty hole. All the surrounding plants bowed down at the heart-rending scene.

"God rest Verity's soul. She needs it." Daniel whispered as he held the girl-plant's cold leaf, which still had Chiarette's spike embedded in it.

The boy-plant carefully took out the spike and sighed.

"Daniel! This is all _your_ fault!" Sara yelled suddenly.

"You cheated Verity, and this is the price you have to pay!" Araceli screamed. "Shut your God-forsaken trap, Araceli!" Daniel retorted as he slapped her face.

All the surrounding plants gasped, and jeered at Daniel.

"Wow! I thought Verity was evil, but look at "goody two-roots" Daniel!"

"To hell with _his_ ass!"

"How could he be so freaking horrible?"

Daniel shut out the boos of the surrounding plants by looking up at the sky, where Verity's star still reigned queen of the night sky, alongside the moon.

* * *

Verity woke up in a room with a white so pure, it was blinding, although her eyes eventually got used to it.

"Where am I?" she asked herself as she looked into a mirror not far from her side, discovering that she was her normal self, without any cuts, bruises or bullet holes.

"Welcome to the Land of the Dead Spirits, Verity." Ilaria answered from behind.  
"You came at a good time too ― today is La Dia de Los Muertos ― the Day of the Dead!"

"Ilaria!" Verity cried as she hugged her older sister.

"Verity! You've come to join us!" a Fume-Shroom exclaimed from behind her stem.

"Dad?" Verity whispered as she approached the Fume-Shroom.

"It is I, Verity. It is I." he replied softly.

Just then, Verity had a flashback to when she was two.

* * *

 _ **FLASHBACK TO 2005**_

* * *

Verity was two years old, and she was miraculously alive, because her birth was chaotic. Not to mention that she was born with a mental abnormality that gave her the ability to understand things that only a mature child could fathom, but she could not speak. The young Verity's development was stymied, thanks to these odd birth defects. This meant that she had trouble walking as well as an able-bodied sprout, socializing, or expressing her feelings fairly, which meant that she spat, screamed, punched, or kicked when she didn't have her way. Verity's parents did not punish her, because punishment would not speed up her development, or help her at all.

"Dad! Mom!" four year old Ilaria squealed as she came running out of her room, with Verity hobbling unsteadily in tow.

"Come on, Verity! You can go faster, can't you?" Ilaria asked as she glanced back at her little sister.

Verity shook her cap and sat down on the floor sadly.

"Verity! You're a smart girl-plant, aren't you?" Ilaria asked.

Verity nodded in response, while keeping her mouth clamped tightly shut.

"I'll help you walk, Verity!" Ilaria whispered as she helped her little sister up to her roots, and held her leaves tightly as they walked into the front hall.

"See? Told you that you could do it!" Ilaria said with a smile.

"That's my girl!" a Fume-Shroom exclaimed as he hugged his older daughter.

Verity just wiped her eyes, feeling a twinge of jealousy, while trying not to cry.

"Veri! How's my special little gem?" Verity's father cooed as he lifted her up, much to her delight.

Verity, who was rather good at nonverbal communication, just nodded and clapped her tiny leaves with a big smile.

"Dad, that means she's happy to see you," Ilaria explained promptly.

"You're quite the interpreter, aren't you? You two are like twins!" her father exclaimed.

Verity clapped her leaves and nodded, with an even bigger smile, to express her agreement. Her mother came in, and saw that Verity was still using nonverbal communication.

"Oh, James. I just hope Verity overcomes this speech defect of hers. All our little sprout seems to be able to do is scream and cry. She won't speak at all!" she whispered sadly.

Verity's face dropped at her mother's statement.

"Mom, don't say that! Verity doesn't like it when you say she's different! Veri thinks it's mean!" Ilaria scolded as she pointed an accusing leaf at her mother, who chuckled at her daughter's immature behaviour.

Verity's frown just became deeper.

"Mom! Verity's even madder now!" Ilaria protested.

"All right, Aurora Borealis! I won't speak another word about the matter!" her mother replied.

Verity nodded with satisfaction as her father held her tiny leaf in his huge one.

"I'll have to go soon, you three." he said softly.

"Dad, why do you have to fight those brain-eating ―"

Ilaria said a word so bad, that she earned a tiny whack from Verity, who knew that the word was horrible.

"Sorry, guys. I don't want Dad to go!" Ilaria whined.

"I'll come back soon, you two. I'll be back before Verity can speak!" her father reassured her.

Verity's face had taken on a slightly optimistic look, although she was sad that her father would be leaving.

"Oh, James. Must you go?" Verity's mother asked.

"It's for the safety of many a human." her husband answered soberly as a horn honked from outside.

"I gotta go, but I'll be back!" he murmured as he saluted Verity, Ilaria and their mother.

The mother and her daughters saluted right back, with Verity looking upset and miserable. As soon as her father had gone out the door, she started howling forlornly.

"Oh, my pequeña. Dad will be back soon." her mother murmured as she hugged both of her daughters close to her.

Verity did not speak, because she simply couldn't. All she could do was tremble and howl.

 _ **A YEAR LATER...**_

Verity was three years old, and she still couldn't speak, although she finally knew how to walk normally on her two roots. She was happily playing with her older sister in the living room.

"Verity! Look at this!" Ilaria shrieked as she did a cartwheel on the floor.

Verity clapped her leaves before she showed of her skills, in the form of jumping up before doing a backflip.

"Hijas, that's enough tumbling for a day. I don't want anyone getting hurt." her mother said soberly.

"Aww, mom! Just as the good times were about to roll?" Ilaria whinged.

Verity nodded in agreement with her sister, with a frown on her face.

"Why don't you play in the backyard?" her mother suggested.

"Let's go where we can see and hear what's going on!" Ilaria exclaimed.

Verity's frown turned upside down as she followed her older sister out into the backyard. Just then, a Cactus came with a message for the girl-plants' mother. "Tanya, I hate to break this to you, but your husband died during a particularly fierce battle with the zombies." she said simply before she walked out the door.

When Ilaria heard this, she tugged Verity back inside, only to find their mother staring at the wall.

"Mom, what happened?" Ilaria asked.

"Your dad is dead, Ilaria." her mother answered.

When Verity heard this, she fell to the floor and started crying loudly. Her screams could be heard all the way up the street. Ilaria broke down into tears along with her sister. Their mother could only watch sorrowfully as her daughters cried like sprouts that didn't know how to speak. Then, the sunlight became brighter, and Ilaria and Verity stopped their crying. Then, Verity spoke her first words since she was born.

"I'll miss Dad."

Those were her first words.

Her mother gasped as tears of joy sprang to her eyes.

"Verity, you've spoken! You're normal now!" she exclaimed.

"Si, Mimar. Esa cierto. I can talk now!" Verity exclaimed.

Her sister hugged her tightly.

"See what I meant about you being a smart plant?" she whispered.

"And I won't have to be weird and silent anymore!" Verity responded, like a mature girl-plant.

"Dad would be proud of me . . ."

* * *

 _ **BACK TO THE LAND OF THE DEAD SPIRITS**_

* * *

"I remember you, Dad." Verity whispered.

"Of course you do!" her father replied as he hugged his daughter.

"I didn't expect to see you till you were old and shaky!" he murmured.

Verity shrugged and sighed. Then, her father became dead serious.

"Verity, I know you got into a relationship with Daniel, and that you two are bonded like twins. I'm not mad, but just surprised at the horrible things Daniel did to you down there. I can tell that you wanted to have him killed by the shot fired from Zomboss' gun, because he wanted you killed. But something deep down inside of you made you jump and spare his life. You want to know what Ilaria thinks about this? Trust me, she's not angry at you." he whispered.

Ilaria took over.  
"That is an act of true love, Verity. Every relationship has those bad drops, and you just hate Daniel. But, deep down, you love him. That was what made you defend Daniel, because you wanted to be spared the grief and sorrow of losing him to somebody as evil as Zomboss. To sacrifice yourself the way you did back there is just . . . amazing! God is really proud of you, Verity. Because you committed suicide back there, you deserve a second chance. You can go back, if you want." she murmured.

Verity smiled as she hugged her older sister. "Do you want to leave, or not?" her father asked. Verity hesitated.

 _I'll see them again when it's truly time for me to come._

 _If I stay, I won't see my friends till eternity._

 _Well . . . if I go, I'll have to face shame, and possible hate from Daniel._

 _But I know that deep down, Daniel still loves me and needs me, so I'll do what I must._

"Decided yet, pequeña?" Verity's father asked.

"Yes. I choose to go. Although I may be endangering my life, I must do what is right, Dad." the girl plant declared solemnly.

Ilaria drew a circle in the air, and created a portal.

"I'll miss you, Verity." she murmured.

Then, Ilaria and her father saluted farewell to Verity, who saluted back, before she stepped into the portal, and found herself lying on the cold, hard ground a second later.

* * *

Just as suddenly as Verity died, the mockery hushed itself. The plants were just silenced by Providence. Daniel, who was staring at the sky, gasped as the star representing Verity's departed spirit disappeared in a flash. After that, he felt as if a part of him had come back from the land of the lost, and he felt a warmth return to Verity's leaf.

"Verity! Open those pretty eyes, please!" Daniel whispered.

And surely enough, Verity opened her eyes, and found herself staring at Daniel. She could scarcely believe what she had gone through, what with dying and coming alive once more.

"Verity! You're alive!" Daniel exclaimed as he hugged the weak girl-plant.

Verity smiled as she gently pushed Daniel away and stood up.

"H-hey! Why did you push me away?" he asked.

Verity eyed him unsympathetically.

"We'll discuss this when we take care of Jason and Chiarette." she hissed.

Jason, who had been knocked out as well because of the mysterious wind, got up.

"I see you've risen from the dead, girly. It's time to finish this job!" he snapped as he grabbed Zomboss' shotgun.

"Oh no you don't!" a police officer barked as he, along with a team of ten others, wrestled the shotgun out of Jason's leaf.

Just then, Zomboss stood up from the debris.

"If you _dare_ lay a hand on my two best recruits, I swear to God, I'll whoop your butt-holes so hard that you'll see the bloody light of Heaven!" he growled.

"Oh no you don't!" Araceli sneered as she kicked Zomboss' leg and punched his pancreas.

"Araceli Alvarez! Look at you go!" Sara laughed.

"Ohh, you darn craphead!" Zomboss snarled as he tried to hit Araceli, but she ducked.

"Neener, neener! Can't catch me!" Araceli snickered as she tossed rocks at Zomboss.

The police, meanwhile, had tossed Jason and Chiarette into the back of their pickup truck, and just let the plants deal with Zomboss, who eventually ran back into the graveyard out of desperation. Sara laughed as she put a leaf around her new friend.

"Tonight was crazy!" she chuckled.

"At least all crazy things come to an end!" Verity replied.

* * *

 _ ****_ _ **A FEW DAYS LATER...**_

"Well, would you look at that! Ilaria has been posthumously found innocent, and Jason and Chiarette have been sentenced to life imprisonment! What a world!" Verity mused as she tossed the newspaper onto the table beside her chair in the living room.

"I know, right?" Daniel replied as he came up next to Verity, who didn't respond.

"Verity, I've been noticing that you've been very distant with me. Is it because of how I said you should be killed?" he asked.

Verity stood up, and eyed Daniel.

"Almost. I feel as if I shouldn't be with you, and . . ." she trailed off as her look softened.

"And what?" Daniel asked.

Verity sighed as she put a leaf on Daniel's cheek.

"It's fine. You've learned your lesson, and I've learned mine." she whispered.

Daniel smiled. "I'm glad that's true," he murmured before he held Verity's leaves and kissed her.

Dr. Andy and Crazy Dave watched the scene with big smiles on their faces. As Verity and Daniel broke apart five minutes later, they noticed that the two humans were watching them.

"Dr. Andy! Really?" Verity asked with red cheeks.

"Blame Dave! It was his idea ―"

Dr. Andy tried to protest, but it was too late. Verity went underneath a shelf, and pulled out a skull with several cracks in it.

"Remember what I said I'd collect? Now Araceli and I are equals! This one has so many cracks because the man who this belonged to was shot several times in the head!" Verity shrieked exultantly.

Dr. Andy rolled his eyes. "Not that again!" he groaned as he turned on his heel and walked out the door.

Daniel was shocked by the skull in Verity's leaf.

"Where'd you get that?" he asked.

"I meant it when Araceli was collecting bones! I just took one of her skulls and hid it under this shelf, in case I needed it!" Verity answered.

Daniel could only laugh. "You silly clown!" he chuckled as he kissed Verity again. Verity wrapped her leaves around Daniel happily.

 _All is well_

 _Now we rest;_

 _God is nigh!_


End file.
